704 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 592. 



the summer school the young instructor may 

 earn sufficient for his maintenance. 



In nearly all of our colleges the salary 

 paid to the teacher below the grade of pro- 

 fessor is so small as to render it all but neces- 

 sary for him to devote at least a portion of 

 the summer vacation to primary teaching. 

 This evil chiefly afPects the teacher who is 

 neither old nor young, but who in the fullest 

 possession of his newly developed abilities re- 

 joices still in the full energy of youth, and 

 yet is upon the threshold of that fuller knowl- 

 edge which years alone can bring. Now if 

 ever is he fitted for giving new thought to 

 the world, and now of all times are his free 

 moments precious. 



In my oiRcial connection with a laboratory 

 whose purpose it is to afford unrivaled facil- 

 ities for research to those best fitted to avail 

 themselves of the opportunity, I find that fully 

 one third of our ablest investigators feel 

 obliged to decline invitations to pursue re- 

 search work free of all expense; and answer 

 that in order to provide adequate support for 

 wife and family they must forego the attrac- 

 tive prospect, and teach in the summer schools. 

 And thus they must decline facilities for the 

 solution of problems which years of training 

 have best fitted them to solve, and to the solu- 

 tion of which their thoughts must turn with 

 hope and longing. 



Granted that research must generally be per- 

 formed at a sacrifice to him who loves it, and 

 that the genius of advancing thought flourishes 

 best in adversity, is this an argument for 

 rendering research well-nigh impossible, and 

 for substituting the low achievement of ex- 

 pounding well-worn facts for the glory of dis- 

 covery ? 



Our colossal universities are weak in re- 

 search when compared with those of Germany, 

 and when we look upon the great names of 

 those who were among us we see that produc- 

 tive scholarship has not advanced with our 

 material progress. 



We must have more of the spirit of Agassiz 

 who knew of the hidden wealth by Lake Su- 

 perior's shore, but had not time to make 

 money; of Henry who knew of the practical 

 value of his electro-magnet but swerved not 



from his path and ever studied science simply 

 for his love of it, never asking of it the re- 

 wards of wealth. 



Not the least of this evil of which we speak 

 is the fact that our colleges are putting into 

 the high place the ideal of mere money getting. 

 The most inadequate measure of success is 

 thus lauded as the highest, and it is a lament- 

 able fact that a large number of our leading 

 college professors have deserted research to 

 enter upon commercial careers. 



Measure our universities by standards truly 

 high. What character do they develop in 

 their graduates, what love for research do they 

 inspire, how thorough is their scholarship. 

 Even small colleges may excel the great uni- 

 versities in these things. This matter has 

 been most ably discussed by Professor 

 Miinsterberg in his book upon ' American 

 Traits,' giving as he does the deferential but 

 nevertheless just opinion of one who as a 

 visitor among us contrasts our achievements 

 in higher education with those of his native 

 land. 



It is to be hoped that one among our grad- 

 uate schools may develop as an autonomous 

 institution, with its own special faculty de- 

 voted exclusively to the advancement of its 

 aims, and substituting the standard of original 

 work for that of mere erudition, and of quality 

 for that of quantity. If one among them thus 

 should raise its head, aU others soon would 

 follow. 



Alfred Goldsboeough Mayer. 



Marine Labobatort of the Carnegie 

 Institution, Tobtugas, Florida. 



on the origin of the small mounds of the 

 lower mississippi valley and texas. 



To THE Editor of Science: Apropos of a 

 communication under the above title by P. J. 

 Famsworth in your issue of April 13, 1906, I 

 beg the privilege of a few remarks. 



From time to time a number of notes have 

 been written upon this subject in Science by 

 Messrs. Veatch, Branner, Bushnell and per- 

 haps others, but unfortunately none of these 

 papers are available to me except those of 

 Messrs. Farnsworth and Bushnell. 



The mounds to which I allude are low, 



